Tag Archives: food

After 18 months in full-blown get-to-know-you mode, Chef Adam Barnett is feeling very much part of the culinary scene in Winston-Salem.

Barnett, who was hired in July 2017 as Executive Chef at the relatively new The Katharine Brasserie and Bar, which was the location of the first Chef’s Table of 2019 on January 8th. The event sold out in less than eight hours and then Barnett agreed to add another 15 seats for a total of 45. Those additional seats sold out in less than 30 minutes. Needless to say, people are interested in what Barnett is doing. Many of the attendees of Chef’s Table, which was held on January 8, had never been to The Katharine and they were ready for what he was cooking up.

Named for Katharine B. Reynolds, The Katharine has been written about by me and others a number of times, from media events and regarding seasonal menu changes or new additions, so if you’re a regular reader of YES! Weekly or Triadfoodies, you know I’ve walked away impressed with the food and service more than once.And just about every time I’ve dined at the brasserie, we’ve enjoyed some of the best wine pairings I’ve ever experienced.

I got to know Barnett a bit better when he was a guest of my podcast, “At The Table with Triadfoodies.” Barnett grew up as a regular kid in Columbus, Ohio and enjoyed summers with his mother’s family in Nova Scotia, which he attributes to his sense of wanderlust. After deciding that academia was not for him, he took a more “hands-on approach” in construction. And you know how winter is in the construction field. “I needed some winter hours and I started working in a restaurant,” he says. “I had one chef take some interest in me, then I got shuttled along to another restaurant and then I hit the road.” Barnett has had stints in Aspen, Colorado; Toronto, Ontario; Vermont, Big Sur, and Los Angeles, California; and most recently Washington D.C. “I spent eight years in the school of hard knocks, real world training and eventually landed in the advanced placement program at the New England Culinary Institute.”Afterward, it was in California that he honed his skills in modern French techniques, which serves him well at the Katharine, a French-Inspired brasserie, but Barnett says they don’t want to be too dogmatic about it.

“I’ve worked with some very, very good classically French chefs and that’s always been the underpinning of what I do,” he says. “But like everything else, cuisine evolves. You sit back and take a look at who inspires you or you look at re-discoveries of ethnicities and I try to incorporate that into what we’re doing here.” While we may think of French cuisines as heavy with butter and cream and bread, Barnett feels that France’s influence in its former colonies in places like the Mediterranean allows him to offer a more relatable, global approach and the menu of the Chef’s Table was a reflection of that.

Okay okay…so you’re wondering where is dessert…heh heh…funny story. I actually really enjoyed the cheese course, after all it IS a French-themed restaurant. But there’s the story of a pastry chef and rice pudding gone awry. We’ll leave it at that.

Barnett took some time to get to know the space and cultivate an air of good community with the culinary team itself. The Kimpton hired new management, a new sommelier and he says now The Katharine is better than it has ever been. “I feel so tremendously honored to work with this group, from our back of house to our management and our sommelier. They’re a big part of the engine. It’s never a one person show.”

Barnett says he’s enjoyed the community and has felt the embrace and he can’t imagine doing anything different.He says, “I love the visible, tangible marker of a day well spent. And that’s one of the great things about working with food.You get raw ingredients in, you apply technique, you hand it over to someone and you get to see the satisfaction. There’s a profound sense of enjoyment from that.”

By the way, this wasn’t served at our Chef’s Table but if my favorite dish at The Katharine is this Beef Tartare. It’s divine.

Wanna go? The Katharine Brasserie & Bar is located at the Kimpton Cardinal Hotel, 401 North Main Street, Winston-Salem. katharinebrasserie.com

I don’t know if you’re like me but I tend to buy bananas with the best of intentions.

“The kids will have them as snacks!” (yeah right).

“I’ll put them in smoothies!” (but it’s so cold).

“They make such good sandwiches! (then I forget) “Especially with fried chicken!” (who’s making fried chicken though?)

That means there are always 2 or 3 just hanging out going overripe. So now I just let them do their thing because I found the perfect banana bread that’s grain-free, refined sugar-free. Basically it’s healthier banana bread. You’ll hardly miss your old banana bread once you try this. At the very least you can have it with your coffee and not feel an ounce of guilt.

I say “hardly” because it won’t rise all nice and high like a typical banana bread but that’s okay because the texture is on point! It’s delicious and my 12-year-old can’t even tell the difference. And dare I say it? It’s moist! Moist (sorry weirdos, there’s just no other word here)!

I first ran across my favorite paleo banana bread recipe over at Peanut Butter Runner’s blog. I modified this recipe just a touch and played with my sweeteners a bit. But it’s pretty close to Jen’s.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Oil or butter a 9 x 5 loaf pan or dish or line with parchment.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt, spices. Separately in a small bowl, mix together coconut oil, eggs, bananas, maple syrup and vanilla until well combined.

Add wet ingredients to the dry and gently mix together until combined being careful not to overmix. But taste it at this point. When it comes to baking with these type of flours and adding the soda/powder/salt…you don’t want the batter to have that acidic/salt background so if it does, just drizzle in a touch more sweetener. The bigger the bananas, the sweeter it will be too.

Pour batter in prepared loaf pan and bake for 45-50 minutes or until set in the center and a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool in pan for about 15-20 minutes then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely. (Does anyone ever do this if it’s in a pretty pan?) I did this time. 😉

Once cool you can slice and try to make it last the day. You will want some with coffee (again) tomorrow.

Caleb Flint of Wine Merchants in WS offered me a bottle of Amity Vineyards White Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley 2017 for an honest review. We are grateful for the opportunity (and the wine). All opinions are my own.

My favorite kind of wine is red wine. And of the reds, my favorite has been Pinot Noir. And no that has nothing to do with the film, Sideways. 😀 . Though a Malbec sometimes does sometimes hit the spot. I also do try to support NC Wine as much as possible but I do like to change up. So when Wine Merchants talked about a White Pinot Noir, I was intrigued. After grabbing a bottle, I took a little time and meal planning for when to enjoy it. Mr. foodie and I like wine, but we have two kiddos at home and sometimes we can’t just open a bottle up and enjoy. And we rarely finish a bottle between the two of us in one night. Plus, I wanted to have a mushroom pasta dish. I am particular like that.

Then the night came. Opened up a bottle of the White Pinot on a pasta night. I enjoyed a glass while cooking. What we found was a lightly fruity, very clean wine with body that drinks quite easily alone and is wonderful with pasta, cheese and poultry and particularly, mushrooms. Bonus points if you can manage that in one dish, which we did (a browned butter balsamic mushroom sauce over ravioli with grilled chicken). The photo of the dish didn’t come out well. But I’ll make it again and share the recipe.

The wine went perfectly. I have a feeling this is going to be in the regular rotation.

i see you

White Pinot Noir is gaining in popularity but is still considered somewhat “rare” compared to other varietals. it takes a special process because Pinot Noir grapes are obviously red. This is an excerpt from VinePair.

To make white wine from red grapes, winemakers take careful steps to ensure that there is minimum contact, or maceration, between the pre-fermented must and color-giving grape skins. To eliminate maceration for white Pinot, only a small amount of the grape’s juice can be fermented into white wine.Free-run juice is released when grapes are piled, and their skins break under their own weight. In white winemaking, this produces the highest quality wines because there’s minimal contact with bitter skins and seeds. Free-run juice, and occasionally must from a very light pressing, are used to make Blanc de Noirs still wines.

White Pinot Noir also listed as Pinot Noir Blanc or Blanc de Noirs. In Winston-Salem, you can find Amity Vineyards for about $25 at Wine Merchants & Vin 205 Wine Bar at 205 S. Stratford Rd. in Winston-Salem. (336) 765-8175.

By the way, if you haven’t been to Wine Merchants or the bistro next door, get yourself over there. The restaurant is one of the most underrated spots in all of the Triad. Read about them here. Site of 2 Chef’s Tables! That’s how good.

Back in September when we enjoyed a wonderful Chef’s Table with Chef Oren Feuerberg at Vin 205 Farm to Table Bistro, owner Caleb Flint said he wanted to do it again, but this time to show off Chef’s skills at brunch.

Twist. My. Arm.

We decided to kick off the new year with a Bubbles and Brunch a couple of weeks back. And man, was it delicious. But I expected it to be. The food at Vin 205 is superb and Caleb Flint really knows how to make his guests feel special. And our Chef’s Tables are just filled with foodies and fellowship and we just have the best time. You should join us for one soon!

You’re met at Vin205 with the Wine Merchants shop. I’m not sure what’s more difficult, trying to refrain yourself from being drawn in by the wonderful aromas of the kitchen because you came to do a little shopping, or not taking a seat immediately because you’re interested in the market. Hopefully you make time for both.

Caleb continues to add more and more to the wine market and now shoppers not only can find wines from boutique vineyards from our local region and all over the globe, but also a plentiful selection of Joyce Farms meats and regional cheeses, chocolates and gourmet items.

Vin205 is certainly gaining ground during the week with dinner featuring live music and wine events. But what Executive Chef Oren and Caleb are endeavoring to highlight is their Sunday brunch. The chef-driven menu changes often with special spins on traditional favorites. And Caleb brought in some of his favorite local purveyors to give them special recognition during our four courses. Batistini Farms, Camino Bakery and Magic Beans Coffee were all special guests at the table and on the palate.

I’d like to think I get out enough but I can’t think of a single quiche I’ve had that has potato AND bacon and to me that just seems like a delicious no-brainer. And I’ve also never had spinach WITH mushroom in a quiche. And of the tasty tasty two, the spinach and mushroom was my favorite. Batistini’s Vanishing Grape is a new favorite of ours and was recently featured in our holiday gift guide. See it here. It’s so worth the purchase as it adds incredible flavor to salads and cheeses. Tom Sephton, imports and bottles the balsamic and oils in Clemmons. “We have basic olive oil and flavored olive oils as well as aged balsamic. All of the oils we bottle are very, very fresh and the harvest date for all oils is right there on the bottle.”

Course 2

Truffled Scrambled Eggs with Camino Brioche Toast

Here we are, days later, and I’m still thinking about those light and fluffy eggs that had been scrambled in truffle oil and topped with truffle shavings…and that bread which Chef and his team griddled so perfectly.

Emily Masters, of Camino Bakery, told the group that the brioche is one of the most popular offerings at Camino. “It’s baked fresh every day, like all our other baked goods. It’s fluffy, buttery with flour from King Arthur Flour, milled in Graham, and milk from Homeland Creamery in Julian.”

Course 3

Brown Butter Poached Shrimp & Pimento Cheese Grits

A twist on a traditional brunch favorite and charmingly served in a glass jar. The grits were cheesy perfection.Our guest, Chris Roth, then praised the chef as the best shrimp and grits he’d ever had.

Course 4

House made Raspberry & Blueberry Muffins with Coffee Service by Magic Beans Coffee

The muffins were lightly sweet and fluffy with whole berries throughout and a great little sweet ending to our brunch. Our “dessert” was paired with Magic Beans air-roasted coffee served two ways. The first tasting was with Magic Beans Essence, a concentrated coffee extract that is added to hot water or other liquids. The second tasting was Wine Merchants and Vin 205’s exclusive Magic Beans blend in the French press. Owners Neal and Mary Pruett served each guest . Neal Pruett told us, “Air roasted coffee is so smooth. One of our mottos is that you can ‘drink ours black’.”

Caleb told the group, “Folks who know me know I’m a rather enthusiastic coffee drinker and we just love how unique and special Magic Beans is.” Not only does Wine Merchants serve the blend, but the beans are sold in bulk as well as the Essence.

Mary and Neal Pruett, Magic Beans LLC

Though guests at Chef’s Table are usually responsible for purchasing their own beverages, which makes it unlike a wine dinner, what we love about Caleb Flint is that he takes advantage of owning a wine shop and offers everyone a taste of what the shop has to offer. Each of the 27 guests were allowed to share bottles of bubbly rose on the tables. And each setting was made even more charming by the varying coffee mugs at each place. Those attention to details is what keeps me coming back to Vin 205 and what will bring us back there again, possibly in the summer, for another Chef’s Table to let Chef Oren surprise us, yet again.

PS: Foodies, our next Chef’s Table at B. Christopher’s sold out in 24 hours. We are so thrilled you are supporting our local chefs. We’ll announce a new Chef’s Table soon! Where would you like to see us?

I had to update this before it went out on its scheduled post. Less than ten tickets left!

We’re so thrilled that our February Chef’s Table features Chris Russell, a chef that has been an inspiration to so many, not to mention so incredibly talented. This venue has definitely been on our “must haves.” Click here to get your ticket!

B. Christopher’s Steakhouse has been a hit in Downtown Greensboro since moving from Burlington a few years ago. Such a gain! We love the cozy feel of his restaurant and oh my, the steak is perfection. In additon to being a successful chef and restauranteur, Chef been a mentor to other chefs who now have successful restaurants themselves, like our beloved Chef Kristina Fuller of Crafted.

Here’s how it works:Reserve with a ticket here and you’ll join us at our table on Monday, February 19. Please note our start time of 7:00 (a bit earlier than our last dinner). A reminder of our pricing: Your ticket price of $30 INCLUDES your multi-course dinner as well as tax and gratuity associated with the meal. Beverage (and gratuity for the purchase of beverages) are not included in the ticket price. Please take care of your server on any beverage service. Seating is limited.

We’ll see you on February 19!

** Follow us on Facebook for the latest details and get in on the chatter by tagging @BChristophers and #triadfoodiesChefsTable on Facebook and Instagram.

Please notify me at Kristi@triadfoodies.com if you have any food sensitivity or if the chef needs to be aware of any concerns.